The Loom
Description
Maison Aïva believes the most honest contemporary buildings are the ones that know what came before them. The Loom is where that conviction takes form.
An addition to an 1825 limestone grist mill on Shaw's Creek in rural Caledon, the project carries two centuries of quiet labour forward into the present through a single sustained gesture. A woven concrete envelope translates Ontario's textile heritage into a parametric precast lattice, wrapping a three-storey civic program oriented toward the millpond. Salvaged stone from the original mill lines an underground passage between old and new. Above, a glass and bronze sky bridge crosses at the third storey, connecting old and new through circulation as well as material. The Loom is not a monument to its predecessor and not an apology for arriving late. It is a continuation.
